HAVING REGARD
to Article 5 b) of the Convention on the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development of 14 December 1960;

HAVING REGARD
to the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises
[C(76)99/FINAL], the Decision of the Council on the OECD Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises [C(2000)96/FINAL as amended by C/MIN(2011)11/FINAL]
(hereafter the “Decision on the Guidelines”), the Convention on Combating
Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, the
Recommendation of the Council on Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply
Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas
[C/MIN(2011)12/FINAL, as amended by C(2012)93], the Recommendation of the
Council on the Policy Framework for Investment [C(2015)56/REV1], the
Recommendation of the Council on the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible
Agricultural Supply Chains [C(2016)83] and the Recommendation of the Council on
the Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in the
Extractive Sector [C(2016)100];

RECALLING
that the common aim of governments recommending the observance of the
Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (hereafter the “Guidelines”) is to
promote responsible business conduct;

RECALLING FURTHER that the Decision on the Guidelines provides that the Investment
Committee shall, in co-operation with National Contact Points, pursue a
proactive agenda in collaboration with stakeholders to promote the effective
observance by enterprises of the Guidelines with respect to particular products,
regions, sectors or industries;

CONSIDERING
the efforts of the international community, in particular the International
Labour Organization, to promote responsible supply chains in the garment and
footwear sector;

RECOGNISING
that building responsible supply chains in the garment and footwear sector is
critical to sustainable development, promoting inclusive growth particularly
for women who make up the overwhelming majority in this sector, respecting
labour and human rights, and meeting international standards on the
environment;

RECOGNISING
that governments, international organisations, enterprises and civil society
organisations can draw on their respective competences and roles to build
responsible garment and footwear supply chains that benefit society at large;

NOTING that
due diligence is an on-going, proactive and reactive process through which
enterprises can prevent and mitigate adverse impacts related to human rights,
labour rights, environmental protection, and bribery and corruption in their
own operations and in their supply chains;

HAVING REGARD
to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment
and Footwear Sector [C(2017)63/ADD1] (hereafter “the Guidance”), that may be
modified as appropriate by the Investment Committee;

NOTING that
this Guidance proposes a framework for due diligence describing the processes
that enterprises should follow to identify, assess, mitigate and account for
how they address the actual and potential adverse impacts associated with their
activities or business relationships and includes detailed measures for
preventing such impacts in relation to child labour, sexual harassment and
sexual and gender-based violence in the workplace, forced labour, working time,
occupational health and safety, trade unions and collective bargaining, wages,
hazardous chemicals, water, greenhouse gas emissions, bribery and corruption,
and responsible sourcing from homeworkers.

On the proposal of the Investment Committee:

I. RECOMMENDS that Members and non-Members adhering to this
Recommendation (hereafter the “Adherents”) and, where relevant, their National
Contact Points to the Guidelines (hereafter the “NCPs”), actively promote the
use of the Guidance by enterprises operating in or from their territories with
the aim of ensuring that they observe internationally agreed standards of
responsible business conduct in garment and footwear supply chains in order to
prevent the adverse impacts of their activities and contribute to sustainable
development;

II. RECOMMENDS, in particular, that Adherents take measures to
actively support the adoption of the due diligence framework for responsible
supply chains in the garment and footwear sector set out in the Guidance by
enterprises operating in or from their territories;

III. RECOMMENDS that Adherents and where relevant their NCPs, with
the support of the OECD Secretariat, ensure the widest possible dissemination
of the Guidance and its active use by enterprises (including raw material and
fibre producers, material manufacturers and processors, components
manufacturers, footwear and garment manufacturers, brands, retailers and their
intermediaries), as well as promote the use of the Guidance as a resource for
stakeholders such as industry associations, trade unions, civil society
organisations, multi-stakeholder initiatives, and sector-initiatives, and
regularly report to the Investment Committee on any dissemination and
implementation activities;

IV. INVITES Adherents and the Secretary-General to disseminate this Recommendation;

V. INVITES non-Adherents to take due account of and adhere to the present
Recommendation;

VI. INSTRUCTS the Investment Committee to monitor the
implementation of the Recommendation and to report to Council no later than
five years following its adoption and as appropriate thereafter.